How to turn everything you touch into gold

As you know, I was inspired by my interview with Robert Kiyosaki this week. So I wrote this post for my Enterprise column.

In Greek mythology, everything King Midas touched turned to gold. And that’s what entrepreneur and best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki suggests is possible in his new book Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich – And Why Most Don’t, co-authored with Donald Trump.

Kiyosaki has built his empire around financial education and books. He first shot to prominence following the success of his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of books, which have held a top spot on the famed New York Times list for over six years. Trump is a magnate thanks to his property and casino interests and reality television show The Apprentice.

In Sydney this week, I spoke to Kiyosaki about how business owners can acquire the Midas touch.

Don’t go to school!

Fond of stirring the pot, Kiyosaki says that most entrepreneurs don’t get rich because they go to school.

“Schools don’t teach you to be entrepreneurs, they teach you to be employees,” says Kiyosaki. “They also teach you not to make mistakes at school. But the only way I learnt to walk, or ride a bicycle or be a pilot is to fall down a couple of times. Most people that go to school come out risk averse, and rather than becoming entrepreneurs, they become bureaucrats.

“A bureaucrat is somebody who has managerial power but they have no fiscal risk. If they make a bad decision, they don’t pay for it.”